The Wait 2.0: "The Water Fall Punishment"
The sky outside was overcast, sheer streaks of grey staining the white clouds in the distance. The wind was restless, storming through the trees and the grass, slipping in through the partially opened window in the sick bay. The lone woman within had to pull down on her beanie to keep it from falling off her head entirely. Her bag was packed and it lay on her lap, a little bulkier than it was when she came, since she had just kept in it a few presents she had received from the children in the shelter earlier.
They had given her some of their candy, made a card together with a drawing of her in the center and small written notes from each of them around the picture. It was a cute drawing of her, one that appeared to have been done with color pencils and crayons. The two messages she read had brought tears to her eyes, so she decided to leave the rest for later, and put it away lest she got more emotional than need be. They had also folded some cranes for her, to wish her well on her journey. She wished she had the time to prepare presents for each of them. All she could offer was a hug with each one of them before she had to come back here to pack up and meet with Shou to go home.
"You okay there?" Shou's sudden appearance startled the woman, and she hastily dried her eyes with the back of her hands before facing him with a tiny smile.
"I'm fine."
"Your face says otherwise."
"I'm fine," she insisted, averting his gaze and standing up, taking her bag with her. "We should go, right?" Sidestepping him, she made it so she was walking in front, so that he wouldn't see the one tear she failed to stop from sliding down her cheek.
"You know, if you're upset you can talk to me about it. I may talk a lot, but I know when I need to shut up and listen," Shou called from behind her, as he hurried to catch up with her unusually brisk walking pace.
She only shook her head. "I'll be fine," was all she could offer him in reply. Shou didn't lie when he said he knew when to be quiet. Her silence was all he listened to for the rest of their walk out of the shelter.
At the entrance, against her better judgment, Chihiro paused and turned back, her gaze lingering on the arched gate with a sign that read, "Kaigo Shelter". Although there was not very much packed in her bag, it suddenly felt like a tremendous weight on her chest that weighed her down, anchoring her to the spot. Her chest constricted with pain and irritation as she glanced around and failed to see any sign of the person she wished to see most.
She heard the man next to her release a sigh. "He's not coming, Chihiro."
That, she knew. Hearing it stung a little too much though. "I know," she whispered, hoping her voice hadn't sounded too shaky. "I just... I know." It would be too much to ask for right then, given how things had ended yesterday. This wasn't how she wanted their farewell to be, especially when she knew it would be their last.
Well, to be fair, she couldn't stack the blame all on herself. Kohaku certainly wasn't being the most forgiving or understanding friend that he probably used to be.
"We should go," Shou urged, and at his voice she reluctantly tore her eyes away from the sign, all while trying to ignore the gaping hole in her chest.
"You're right." Chihiro turned around and met his worried gaze, plastering a decent smile on her face to indicate that she was doing fine. "So... how are we going there?"
He sent her a look of confusion at the odd question. "The same way you got here."
She took a moment to register that, since she had been unconscious the whole journey to this shelter when Kohaku had brought her here. "Oh. But, you're..."
He cracked a smile at her puzzlement. "Step back a little, would you? I need some space for this." Chihiro did as told, stepping back until he told her the distance between them was already plenty. She watched quietly as he closed his eyes and he drew his hands in towards his chest. His face was serene, as if in a deep meditative state. Not long after, a ball of bright, orange light birthed from his chest, which then gradually grew larger and larger until it enveloped his head and body.
The brunette had to squint her eyes and use her hand to shield her eyes from the blinding glare of the light. An intense, fiery heat emanated off from him, and she couldn't help but take a few steps back lest flames engulfing his phoenix form struck her or something. It made her wonder if a real phoenix looked like the ones she had seen in books. Soon after, the light faded. When Chihiro opened her eyes again, there before her was a magnificent creature that she had only ever dreamed of meeting, a being that artists could only attempt to glorify on paper.
"A phoenix," she breathed, her eyes widening in awe at the majestic creature standing in front of her. His body consisted of a spectacular array of red and orange feathers that resembled ferocious flames. They danced gracefully as the wind blew against his large body. A crest of golden feathers crowned his head and glimmered in the sunlight, creating a nimbus that gave him an air of majesty. His sharp talons and beak were a deep rose-gold color, the beautiful color drawing a sigh from the woman. She stepped closer, carefully stretching her hand out to touch his long, thin neck. Her fingers met soft, feathers, its comforting warmth reminding her of a kotatsu in winter.
Experimentally, she ran her fingers down the phoenix's neck, noting the silkiness of his feathers against her skin. "Shou, you're... you look..."
His dark eyes gleamed playfully, clearly pleased at the prospect of being complimented — or worshipped — by her.
"You look fatter than I thought you'd be."
As if she'd give him that satisfaction.
He couldn't speak, and so the phoenix could only release a sharp squawk through his open mouth, directly at her face. The loudness startled her, and her hands shot up to cover her ears at the piercing sound, her face contorted with shock, which almost immediately turned into that of annoyance.
"Shou!" she scolded.
All he did was stick his head up in an apparent scoff, before turning around so his back was facing her.
"Oh fine, I was just kidding. Can't birds take a joke?"
Indignantly, he slammed his talons onto the ground like a child throwing a tantrum. How absurd, for something as grand as a phoenix to behave like that. Her chuckles grew into a laugh, and she was expecting Shou to retaliate against her physically since he couldn't do so verbally as he usually would have, but when he turned around to face her, he didn't make that awful noise again. She had been expecting him to, already raising her hands to cover her ears. Instead, he gently nudged her forehead with his beak, before nuzzling the soft feathers on the top of his head against her cheek.
Chihiro understood. She hugged his neck in return. "Thank you. I feel better now," she murmured, a smile lifting her lips.
Truth be told, dragons were more passenger-friendly than phoenixes were. Probably by a rather large margin.
Chihiro was currently gripping onto the phoenix's neck as tightly as she could without strangling him, for fear of falling. His body was less sturdy than Kohaku's, and worry ate away at her at the thought of slipping off those silky feathers of his.
She tried to ignore the lump that was forming in her throat as memories of flying on a friend's back surfaced in her head. That friend was nothing more than a stranger now. He had changed far too much, or maybe circumstances had changed him.
Chihiro pressed her cheek against the phoenix's neck. Well, she supposed an upside to Shou was that his body's warmth was excellent at keeping her warm, against the continuous rush of wind against them as they soared through the air.
An army of mountains grew from the land beneath them, their towering peaks protruding out from the sheer white fog that covered the valleys and rivers below. In the distance, Chihiro noted smoke rising from what seemed like chimneys. As they drew closer, she realized that it was a village, its spirit residents bustling with activity in the streets. They looked like tiny ants crawling up and down the earth, going about their own businesses for the day.
Chihiro wondered what else there was about the Spirit Realm that she had yet to discover for herself. She barely had any knowledge, had seen far too little, and had yet to meet enough spirits to feed her curiosity about the kinds of beings spirits really were. Were there other spirits like Yubaba, spirits like Lin, Kamaji, or Haku? What other abilities did different spirits have? Did they have superpowers like the heroic figures in movies? What was the history of the Spirit Realm? Why were there two different worlds?
There were so many things she wanted to know, but time apparently could not afford to wait for her.
It was a relatively long ride that passed in silence, and eventually Chihiro spotted the familiar outline of the bathhouse, the quiet, empty streets and the large green meadow. The Mirror, she remembered it was called. This was it. She was going home now. However, Shou began to dip closer down towards the bathhouse, landing in a secluded corner at the back of the tall building instead of the meadow.
A flurry of feathers encompassed the phoenix's body and then Shou was back in his human form, and grabbing her by the arm to keep her close to the wall. His eyes were narrowed, warily scanning the area, his entire body on alert. Chihiro stopped herself from questioning the spirit, instead keeping quiet and following his eyes. There was no one around, as far as she could tell. The only thing that would indicate any sign of life in the area was the smoke coming from the chimney of the bathhouse and the smell of food.
It took a while for Shou to decide that there was no threat in the area, before he released a sigh and visibly relaxed. Letting go of her arm, he turned to her and said, "We don't have much time, so I'll just be direct. Chihiro, I have a favor to ask of you."
"What is it?" she asked, a little concerned by his uncharacteristic somberness with the small frown on his face.
"I want you to come back here in three week's time."
It took her a moment to register his request, and then she furrowed her brows in confusion. "Come back? But, why?"
"I believe you're the only one who can help Kohaku."
"What? Me? But he said—"
"I know what he said. But it was out of concern as it may have been out of spite. It's for your safety, because with the Shugorei getting involved, you shouldn't be here. You could easily end up killed if you're discovered by anyone."
Chihiro knew about the Shugorei and the Mirror. Shou had told her about it just yesterday to prepare her ahead of time in case of any complications that may arise while crossing over. While she paused a little to consider this, Shou added, "I know it's a lot to ask of you when your safety is at stake, but..."
She shook her head. "I'm not worried about that, Shou. If I can help a friend, I'll do what I can, but what makes you think I can help Kohaku?" she asked. "I'm... just a human."
"You can help him because you're a human."
"What do you mean?"
"You told me about your dreams. You can hear Sora's voice. And I think there's a reason for that. Amongst humans, it's quite common to hear of stories of people experiencing spiritual encounters, yes? Or something to do with supernatural occurrences? I forgot the word that humans use when referring to them..."
"Paranormal activity?" she ventured.
"No, like the spirits themselves. Humans call them something else."
"Like... ghosts?"
Shou snapped his fingers, perking up. "Yeah, that. Ghosts."
"So you're saying... that I'm being haunted by Sora's ghost." Chihiro couldn't help but glance surreptitiously behind her shoulder, wary at the prospect of being haunted by one herself.
"Not exactly. What you humans call "ghosts" are actually the essences of a gone spirit," he explained. "When spirits die with an strong unfulfilled wish or desire, they become gone spirits, and their spirit essences will linger in this world until they find some sort of respite, which seldom happens. This rarely happens, but there are times that spirit essences cross over into the human world and haunt humans. We spirits cannot see or sense these essences, but humans can, if the gone spirits are strong enough. Because of that, they tend to cling to the humans who can see them in the hopes of fulfilling their last wishes."
"So that means..."
"Sora has chosen you to help Kohaku in her place," Shou concluded.
Chihiro blinked a couple of times as she attempted to register all this in her head. "So those dreams... they were real? And the voice..." She couldn't help the chill that ran down her spine. Hopefully Sora wouldn't be offended, if she was watching.
"So, will you come back?" Shou asked hopefully.
"But how can I help Kohaku if he doesn't want my help?" she asked, irritation starting to bubble up within her again. "He made that pretty clear."
"I don't know, but I can't think of any other way to help that dragon," he said. "Right now you might be the only one who can."
"Then... Alright," Chihiro agreed. "I'll help."
Shou heaved a sigh of relief and broke into a huge grin, before pulling her into a brief hug. "Thanks a lot, Chihiro. We owe you one."
"That's what friends are for, you know," she smiled. "So, how is this going to work, with the Shugorei and all?"
"I was just about to get to that," Shou replied. "In three weeks, head over to the mouth of the tunnel over at your side. I'll be there in the morning to pick you up."
"Okay."
"We should go now," the man said, looking around and peeking out from the wall that hid them, "It's not safe to stay any longer."
"How are we going to move out?" Chihiro asked, following his gaze.
He turned his head to face her and sent her a smirk. "Just do as I say."
Chihiro felt quite ridiculous doing this, but she supposed there was no other way around it.
"Looks like the others aren't here yet," he said, as he strode across the meadow as if everything was normal.
Chihiro nodded and clung tighter to Shou's body. "Do we really have to do this?" she whispered. Her arms were already feeling tired, and they were only halfway across.
"What a quiet morning it is! Makes you think that nothing's wrong here at all," the man said loudly as he stopped to stretch his arms and back. Then he continued on his way, but not before shooting the woman a pointed glare.
Chihiro bit her gum, sending him an apologetic look. She wasn't supposed to talk, not when they were out in the open like this, but a part of her wondered if Shou had suggested this on purpose, just to annoy her as he usually did. Right then, she felt like an over-sized baby koala clinging onto a tree for the first time.
Shou had cast a spell to refract the light around her so that she would appear invisible to others. Chihiro had been delighted to know that she wouldn't have to hold her breath throughout the walk, like the time when Haku helped to bring her across the bridge — that hadn't worked out very well.
Unfortunately, there was a catch to this spell. Shou said that she would be discovered far too easily if she were to walk next to him — the grass would be a clear indicator of her presence. So, the solution that Shou offered was for her to hold onto him like this. He couldn't well carry her, so she had to use her own strength to stay securely on him until they were safely across.
"Sir Koushou, what brings you here?" Chihiro craned her neck to look behind her. There, she found two guards at the edge of the meadow, standing right above the slope that led down to the tunnel's entrance. They were both dressed in navy blue hakama with matching kataginu, and had long swords tucked at their waists. Their imposing figures and natural scowls made Chihiro press closer against Shou, holding her breath and tightening her grip on the man. She dared not imagine the consequences of being discovered by them, even if Shou was here.
"I'm here to check out the other end of the tunnel," Shou replied. "Lord Kohaku's instructions."
"I'm afraid you made a wasted trip, sir," the guard on the left said. "We have just examined the other end and found nothing suspicious."
"Is that so... I'd like to check it out one more time, just in case. Lord Kohaku has been keeping an eye on this area with his shikigami and he just informed me of movements on the other end."
"There will be no need for that," the other responded firmly. "Lord Makoto himself has already given us instructions to prevent any crossing of the Mirror as far as possible. Permission to cross over must be given by Lord Makoto himself before we can permit it."
"Lord Kohaku said that this is an urgent task. I have no time to obtain Lord Makoto's permission right now."
"Apologies." Both of them lowered their heads. "But we cannot make any exceptions."
Shou was at a loss for words — for the first time. Chihiro felt her pulse quicken. What were they to do now?
Their eyes met as Shou attempted to think of a solution. It didn't take long for him to perk up once more, wearing a playful smirk that could only mean that he had thought of a brilliant idea.
"I understand, if it's direct orders from Makoto," Shou conceded with a sigh.
"Thank you for understanding," they said.
"So how long have you two been posted out here for? And what are your names?"
"Sasuke here's been on duty for the past two weeks," the guard on the left pointed to his comrade, before gesturing to himself, "I'm Jin and I've been here for slightly more than one," he said.
"So, Jin and Sasuke, huh? I haven't seen the two of you around before," Shou said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Are you two new?"
"Yes sir, we're both new to the Shugorei."
"So you're both part of the infantry."
"Yes sir."
"Cool. I remember when I started out in the infantry. Starts off kind of tough in the beginning, huh?"
Chihiro's arms were feeling weaker by the second. She nudged Shou, sending him a pleading look in the two seconds it took for the guards to think about their answers. All Shou offered her in response was a curt nod.
"It's tough, but the training has served us well," Sasuke replied quite respectfully.
"You were cussing out the heavens just yesterday after training," Jin pointed out, much to the annoyance of his friend.
Shou only laughed in response. "It happens. Well, can't be helped. The commanders can be harsh like that. Speaking of which..." a grimace appeared on his face. "I'm not looking forward to Lord Kohaku's reaction to my failure to personally inspect the Mirror as he ordered."
"Sir Koushou, if you don't mind me asking," Jin began, "Is Lord Kohaku as frightful as the rumors go?"
"I don't want to go around badmouthing my superior, but you know..." he leaned in and sad a little softer, "If I mess up even the slightest bit, he'll make me go through the Water Fall Punishment."
"The Water Fall Punishment?" both of them echoed in wonder.
"The Water Fall Punishment," Shou repeated in a grave tone. "Just saying its name makes me shiver." The man made sure to exaggerate his trembling as he continued, "It's the worst punishment you could put anyone through," he muttered. "Oh gods, this is such a terrible day to be alive..."
"W-What kind of punishment is that?" Sasuke inquired.
"You wouldn't want to know," Shou replied. "Ignorance is bliss. Just... make sure to avoid getting on his bad side, or you'll seriously regret it."
"W-We'll keep that in mind..." Jin said.
"Well, looks like there's nothing I can do. Bye guys, if I'm still able to walk after a week I'll come look for you two again. Farewell... hopefully not for good."
Then he turned around and started walking away, all while Chihiro silently protested and nudged him as hard as she could without giving them both away. And here she thought that Shou had actually thought of a good idea that would help. She watched helplessly as the tunnel gradually disappeared from sight, hidden by the slope of grass.
Just then, she felt three fingers on her back.
Then two.
And one.
"Wait, Sir Koushou!"
Shou flashed her a smug grin before turning around and feigning surprise. "Yes?"
Sasuke jogged up towards him and said, "We suppose we can make an exception for you, since Lord Kohaku has given his orders. Besides, given Lord Kohaku and Lord Makoto's relationship, it should be alright if you cross over just to inspect everything and make sure that nothing is out of the ordinary. We might have missed out something that Lord Kohaku detected."
"Really? What if you get in trouble for this?"
Sasuke shook his head, offering him a reassuring smile. "It's just for a short while, so it should be fine. Go ahead, but hurry."
"If you say so, then I'll go ahead. You have my thanks," Shou grinned, before striding past them and heading straight for the tunnel down the slope.
Chihiro couldn't help the grin that her lips stretched into. Once they were out of earshot, she whispered, "The Water Fall Punishment? Was that for real, or did you just make it up?"
He shrugged. "My old mentor used to punish me with that."
"What kind of punishment was it?"
"It's an extreme form of self-control training in which his disciples are not allowed to pee for the next two days."
"You're joking."
"Yeah, I am."
That earned him a punch to the shoulder, though it was soft so that it would be quiet. "You are so annoying."
"I know," he grinned, supporting her weight with his arms once the darkness of the tunnel enveloped them.
"Thanks, Shou. I owe you."
"Anything for a friend, Chihiro."
A/N: I... will think of a better title for this chapter.
Sorry this took so long. I've been struggling with a writer's block lately, and it was difficult to write because the words just wouldn't come as naturally as they used to. It's still not very easy, but I'm slowly getting back to it. Hopefully it'll get better by the next update.
I fussed a lot over this chapter and it took a lot of time for me to feel satisfied with this, hence the delay too. (Sorry again.) I feel that my writing hasn't really improved for a long time, so if anyone has any critique for me about my writing in general or about specific chapters, I would deeply appreciate it if you could leave it in a review or PM haha. I want to know how else I can improve and I think hearing from you guys would be best. Thanks for all your support so far by the way. ^^
If you want to know my writing progress, I'll be regularly updating my profile to let you guys know how things are going.
Yup that's all from me. Thanks for reading~